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Microfluidic chambers used to test whether episodic breathing is regulated by the pons in turtle brainstems
Author(s) -
Bartman Michelle Ellen,
Krisp Ashley Rachel,
Johnson Stephen Mark
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.614.9
Subject(s) - pons , turtle (robot) , brainstem , agonist , anesthesia , respiratory system , neuroscience , medicine , receptor , psychology , biology , fishery
Our goal is to locate and characterize neurons controlling respiratory motor burst timing. Episodic breathing (clusters of fictive breaths separated by apneas) is expressed in isolated adult turtle brainstems and is regulated by serotonin 5‐HT 3 receptor activation (decreases bursts/episode) and blockade (increases bursts/episode). To test whether pontine 5‐HT 3 receptors regulate episodic breathing, microfluidic chambers constructed from silicone elastomer were used to apply drugs selectively to the pons. In time controls (n=2), baseline episodic discharge (1.9 bursts/episode) was unchanged after 2.0 h (1.8 bursts/episode). Application of a 5‐HT 3 agonist to the pons (n=1) switched respiratory motor bursts from 1.5 bursts/episode (baseline) to singlet discharge (1.0 bursts/episode) within 5 min. 5‐HT 3 antagonist application to the pons (n=1) increased baseline discharge from 1.0 to 1.4 bursts/episode after 40 min. These observations suggest that the pons plays an important role in regulating episodic breathing. Funded by NSF (IOB 0517302).